'Runaway Production' Not Hurting Santa Clarita Stages.

For Vince Vellardita, 1999 was a banner year -- so good that he had to turn away prospective customers and is now looking to double the size of his company over the next year.

Given all the talk about runaway production to Canada, it may be hard to believe that Vellardita is in the movie business. His production studio, Valencia Entertainment West, has been booked solid for two years ant its six sound stages are booked through the first six months of 2000.

"Business has been good," Vellardita Said. "We've had to turn people away."

But while Valencia and several production studios in the Santa Clarita Valley' report operating at or near full capacity, on-location shooting has dropped precipitously. The Santa Clarita Film Commission reported that 226 film permits were issued for on-location shoots in 1999, down from 359 permits the previous year and 284 permits in 1997.

April Aston, the Santa Clarita film bureau liaison, said it's difficult to determine whether Canada is the primary culprit for the decline, or that a number of long-running shows that were filming in the area have ended. "I can't say that it's one particular thing," she said.

Northern invader

Canada has indeed had some impact, and not just with on-location shoots. For example, Rye Canyon, a 500,000-square-foot production facility owned by Legacy Partners on the outskirts of Santa Clarita, lost its largest production, sci-fi TV show "Seven Days," to Canada last year.

Such defections have elicited outcries from local entertainment industry workers. Just last week, a coalition of producers, actors, soundstage owners and others pressed congressmen gathered in Burbank to offer tax credits and incentives to keep production in the United States. And earlier this month, entertainment lobbyists went to Sacramento to press Gov. Gray Davis on state film credits.

But amid all the hand-wringing, production studios in Santa Clarita are booming. At Santa Clarita Valley Studios, for example, business jumped in the second half of 1999, after an ownership change in June.

"I expected things to start slowing down (in June) and then eventually ramp up, but we had all eight stages booked up to Christmas," said Roger Paglia, operations manager at Santa Clarita Valley Studios. "The reality of the situation is that Canada is a viable option. However, a number of producers look at Canada but still book in here."

Paglia said the studio has successfully competed with Canada by working with producers and lowering costs when needed. And Vellardita said the option of Canada hasn't come up among his tenants. "There's been a little drop-off, sure, but not as much as everyone is saying," he said. "I'm sure it has (had an impact), but I haven't experienced it."

Vellardita, whose Valencia Entertainment West studio benefits from long-running shows "JAG" and "Power Rangers," added that "Canada only affects part of the business. Fortunately, it's not affecting us. Television is still up."

'X-Files' came back

Even after losing "Seven Days," Rye Canyon came out well ahead of projections for 1999 by picking up other television shows, according to Jeff Botsford, director of locations. Botsford added that so far this year, producers have been busy filming there every day.

Other productions that moved north have returned. "The X-Files," which had been filming in Canada, returned to the L.A. area and has been using the Santa Clarita area for a number of shows. And new shows -- like "Freaks and Geeks," "VIP," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- also are filming in the area.

Just this month, Santa Clarita Valley Studios landed what will be the first show to be taped in front of a studio audience in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Producers of the game show "Supermarket Sweep" were debating whether to make the show in the L.A. area or in Santa Clarita, but the studio owners ultimately convinced the producers that area residents would be eager audience members and show contestants.

"I think we convinced them that the community would support it," said Paglia.

Proof of that will emerge in mid-spring, when "Supermarket Sweep" begins production.